Risking It All
by JustiLynne24
Summary: Hiding from the monsters that made her, Liz tries any means possible to keep people from finding out who--- what she is. This X5 will stop at nothing to keep Manticore from finding her, even if it means hiding from her own kind.
1. Prologue New Beginnings

Prologue  
  
She quickly made her way down the dark streets of Post Pulse Seattle. Ears and eyes alert to her surroundings, she was in search of a tattoo parlor. The first thing she needed to do was get rid of the barcode on her neck.  
  
Liz didn't want any sign of her being a transgenic. The barcode would tip anyone and everyone off. She needed X5-483 to be gone, wiped from history.  
  
She finally eyed an Asian man who seemed to be closing up shop. Liz quickly ran up to the man. "Sir! Sir! I need your help."  
  
The old man turned around, squinting to see the young girl. "Yes, dear?"  
  
"I need a tattoo removal sir."  
  
He shook his head. "I'm closed. Come back tomorrow."  
  
Liz closed her eyes in defeat. "I need it done as soon as possible, sir. Price is no object."  
  
The man seemed to give in. "Alright. Come on."  
  
"Thank you, thank you so much!"  
  
The old man led Liz into the tattoo shop. Within two hours, she was exiting rubbing her throbbing neck. No one ever said it wouldn't hurt. She closed her eyes as she stood outside the tattoo parlor. Now, she needed to decide where she was going to stay.  
  
"Do you need a place to stay, dear?"  
  
She looked up to see the tattoo artist in front of her. "I'm sorry?"  
  
He smiled softly. "A place to stay. Would you like one? My daughter runs a boarding house over in Sector 5. She can find you a job too, if you wish."  
  
A smile adorned her face. "I'd appreciate that sir." 


	2. Chapter One Charms and Secrets

Chapter One  
  
Liz walked into the busy Jam Pony Delivery service. She was told to look for a guy named Reagan Ronald.  
  
Looking around, she walked up to the Dispatch Counter. A man with glasses stood at the counter distributing packages to whoever walked up.  
  
"Anyone heard from Golden Boy or Missy Miss? They're fifteen minutes late!" the man said.  
  
She shyly made her way up to the desk. "Hi, I'm looking for Reagan. Reagan Ronald."  
  
The man looked up from the desk. "I'm Reagan. What can I do for you? Was one of your packages mishandled? I'll fix the problem right away. Just give me your address."  
  
Liz laughed lightly. "Oh no, Mr. Ronald. My name is Liz. Liz Caulfield. Sung Li sent me. She said you had a position open as a messenger."  
  
"No. No jobs open. Sorry."  
  
"Aw come on, Normal! Surely you can find a job for this beautiful girl."  
  
She turned around at the sound of the new voice. Her eyes widened at what she saw.  
  
Another of her kind.  
  
X5-494.  
  
Normal seemed to give it a thought. "Alright, Missy Miss. What did you say your name was?"  
  
"Liz Caulfield."  
  
He came around from the desk to stand in front of her. "Alright young lady. Here's a form to fill out. Get it back to me tomorrow. You train today. Alec will give you the run around."  
  
She turned to face X5-494. "Alec?"  
  
He bowed playfully. "At your service. Hey Normal, wanna give her a bike?"  
  
Normal lifted a bike off one of the hooks. "Here you go. Remember. Form by tomorrow. I'll have your pass by tomorrow as well. Alec will show you the ropes," he gave two packages to Alec who stuff them into his messenger bag. "Two hot runs. Sector nine."  
  
"No problem, boss." He turned to the newcomer. "You ready?"  
  
She silently nodded her head. Liz followed Alec out of the building, silently praying he didn't know who she was.  
  
# # #  
  
"So, where are you from?"  
  
They had stopped at a delivery, and were making their way to the door on a delivery.  
  
She shrugged. "Um. I'm from here. Seattle. Have you been working for Jam Pony long?"  
  
He smirked slightly. "Eh. A couple weeks. It's not too bad of a bad. Minimum wage sucks, but it's money right?"  
  
Once they reached the front step, he knocked on the door. "Jam Pony messenger!" The older woman on the other side quickly signed for the package, and proceeded to shut the door in his face. Alec rolled his eyes. "You have a nice day too. Some of these people are so rude. Like I said. It's cash."  
  
Liz followed Alec back to where their bikes were parked. "It's okay. I have other means to make some money."  
  
Alec laughed. "Working down at Blowfish Tavern?"  
  
Liz fought to keep herself from rolling her eyes. "No. Not Blowfish Tavern. I just do odd jobs around Seattle."  
  
That wasn't a complete lie. Since she got out of Manticore, Liz began scamming money off of steel heads and creeps she had met off the street. It was easy, seeing how the men could even come close to possessing the same stealth strength she had. For the time being, it kept food in her stomach.  
  
Alec checked his watch when he hopped back on his bike. "Speaking of odd jobs. I got a business deal over in sector four. Is it okay if we run over there? Normal will call my cell if we need to get back."  
  
She shrugged. "It's your ass. As long as you don't get me in trouble on my first day."  
  
Alec smirked. "Don't worry about it. Normal loves me," he stopped to ponder the though, "it's actually kinda scary. But, just the same. He does. As long as you're with me, you're good."  
  
Liz nodded her head as she followed Alec. She wanted desperately to ask him if anymore X5's worked at Jam Pony, but that would blow her cover. She would just have to wait to find out.  
  
# # #  
  
The moment they entered the grounds, Liz knew she was on steel head's turf. "What the hell kind of business deal do you have going on here?"  
  
Alec turned around. "Aw come on, worried that some steel heads might hurt you? I'll protect you," he told her, adding a wink for effect.  
  
"Whatever. I'm following you around today." Liz kept her senses up. She knew this place was trouble.  
  
When Alec reached behind his head to rub his neck, it was then that she confirmed that he was indeed X5-494.  
  
The distinctive barcode gave it away.  
  
"Hey there doll face," a stranger whispered in her ear.  
  
Cursing herself for not noticing his appearance sooner, she turned around. "I'm not your 'doll face' pin head," she said, placing her hands on her hips. Figures. First day on the job, and Alec gets her into a messed up situation.  
  
"Hey Liz, why don't you just stand back. I'll take care of this."  
  
She rolled her eyes when Alec spoke. "Why don't you just leave us alone, pin head?"  
  
"Uh. Liz. That's not a good idea," he said to her. He really didn't want to get into a fight around her. It wasn't Alec's idea of a first impression.  
  
The steel head raised his hand to hit her, and she stopped his hand before he got the chance to contact her face. "Didn't your Mom tell you never to hit a lady?"  
  
His eyes widened.  
  
She brought his hand behind his back, dislocating his shoulder without breaking a sweat. "Now, am I doll face?"  
  
"No no. Of course not."  
  
Alec was taken aback. A simply ordinary couldn't possess the strength that she had just used to put away the steel head. Moments later, the steel head was running for cover from his new co-worker. "Damn Liz. Workout much?"  
  
She shrugged, and picked up her bike. "A little. Can we get out of here? This place freaks me out."  
  
A little flabbergasted, he answered her, "Sure. Give me a second."  
  
She nodded her head, following him. "I'm kinda thirsty Alec, is there somewhere around here that I can grab a soda?"  
  
He nodded his head and pointed to the soda vender. "Over there. I'll hold your bike for you."  
  
She smiled slightly. "Thanks." As she walked away, Alec slyly kicked a piece of wood in her path.  
  
She fell to the ground with a hard thud. "DAMMIT."  
  
Alec dropped the bikes to bend down and help her up. In doing so, he swiped the hair from her neck. No barcode.  
  
Liz's eyes widened when she noticed he swiped a look at her neck. She took his hand when he helped her up. "No cut and bruises. But, damn that did hurt."  
  
"Sorry, are you alright?"  
  
She nodded her head. "No damage done. Are we done here?"  
  
Alec handed Liz her bike, then mounted his own. "Yeah. Let's get back to Jam Pony. I'll introduce your beautiful face to the rest of the crew." 


End file.
